The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives – Lola Shoneyin

Five words from the blurb: polygamous, family, wives, children, Nigerian

The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives is set in Nigeria and gives an insight into the problems faced by women within a polygamous marriage. In a series of interwoven narratives the book tells the story of the four women married to Baba Segi, a rich patriarch. We see the strict hierarchy that exists within the family and the wives’ struggle to conceive the children that their husband demands.

The book was very easy to read – the text flowed simply and quickly. There were many humourous sections and the book retained a light tone throughout, despite some darker moments.

I loved seeing the relationships within the family change with the addition of each new wife and it was really interesting to see things from the perspective of each woman.

Iya Segi has two children. The eldest Segi, is fifteen. She is a dutiful sister to her siblings but I think she is afraid that I have come to take her place. I see anger when I offer to help the other children with homework. She doesn’t speak to me but I often see her shadow by the door.

My only complaint is that there was very little description of their surroundings. By the end of the book I felt I knew the wives really well, but I couldn’t picture their house or village at all.

Overall this was a wonderfully entertaining novel that raised many important issues. Recommended.

My faith in the Orange Prize has returned. I wouldn’t have come across this book if it hadn’t been longlisted for the Orange Prize and I am very pleased that I read it. I hope my next Orange is just as rewarding.

28 Comments

One that we both liked! I think I liked it BECAUSE there weren’t too many descriptions, such a contrast to The memory of love. It meant that the story moved along at quite a pace. Thanks for quoting me!

Verity, I’m about 100 pages into Memory of Love and am really enjoying the descriptions, but am starting to crave a bit of plot. I hope it turns up soon. I prefer the middle ground – descriptions and plot! I hope I can find one that fits the bill soon.

I’m surprised that you hasn’t heard of this pre-Orange as some American bloggers were raving about it a few months ago. I added it to my wish-list at the time and thank the Orange judges for the additional push to read it.

Claire, I think we follow very different blogs. Looking through the blog search to write this review I did spot a few mentions of this book on blogs I follow, but they were all so-so reviews and so I tend to not take note of the title. I’m pleased that it is now getting the attention it deserves.

I’m so glad to see a novel redeemed this year’s Orange for you! I’m reading this one and really enjoying it. It is a quick read for me so far, and I’m quite impressed with how much personality the author gives each character.

Carrie, Yes. All the characters lept from the page. I especially loved Bolanle, but the grumpiness of the older wives added that extra splash of humour to the book. I look forward to seeing what you think of it at the end.

While no specifics are coming to mind, I feel like I read a bunch of mixed reviews about this book, so it was nice to see that you enjoyed it so much. I agree that this is probably one that I wouldn’t really think about reading (it seems like so many books are about polygamy these days… or is that just me?), but it does sound like there is a lot of meat to it even if it is not perfect.

It is hard not to be curious about how these women deal with this kind of thing (even though it is all they know). I cannot imagine. I suppose it would become all about each other, versus the man. He is the least of their issues.

Sandy, It seems like a very complex set of relationships. The dominance of the man seems to cause most of the problems, but the jealousy of the wives is also a a big issue. All very interesting to read about, but almost impossible to imagine doing.

I’m happy to hear your faith in the Orange Prize has been restored and that you enjoyed this one. I picked out two from the longlist I wanted to read – this was one and the other was Jamrach’s Menagerie. I’ve yet to buy either but I plan on book shopping soon!

Brenna, I’m interested in Jamrach’s Menagerie too! I am half way through Moby Dick and loving it, so any book that is compared to it draws my attention straight away. Let’s hope it is as good as it looks

I’m glad that not all the fruit was discarded from your table! ::grin::

I haven’t made it to the halfway point in my Orange reading for this year yet, but I do agree that, even so, this one stands out as a readable and enjoyable — but not entirely light either — story. (My thoughts are here.)

For me it didn’t matter that there wasn’t that much description of the setting because it made it seem like a more universal story, emphasizing the emotions rather than the landscape. But I do tend to expect more description when it comes to stories set in Africa (as was the case with last year’s longlisted Black Mamba Boy, for instance), so I can see how that might have been a surprising absence.

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